How many Thai restaurants are there in the UK?

There are 1594 FSA-registered Thai food businesses across the UK as of June 2026 — approximately 965 full-service restaurants and 592 quick-service takeaways. Thai cuisine has grown 20.3% in outlet numbers between 2022 and 2025, making it the 4th fastest-growing cuisine in the UK. Our data is sourced directly from the Food Standards Agency and updated weekly.

Which UK city has the most Thai restaurants?

London dominates with 411 Thai businesses (26.4% of UK total) — 323 dine-in and 88 takeaway. Next tier: Leeds (34), Manchester (28), Edinburgh (24), Bristol (19), Birmingham (17). Per-capita density tells a different story: Swansea leads at 5.7/100k, followed by Norwich (5.4/100k) and Bath (5.1/100k). London ranks 8th by density at 4.6/100k.

How many Thai restaurants are in London?

411 Thai food businesses in London as of June 2026: 323 full-service restaurants and 88 takeaways. London accounts for 26.4% of all UK Thai businesses. Per-capita density is 4.6 per 100,000 residents — above the UK average of 2.6. Borough breakdown and detailed analysis available on the London city page.

What is the average hygiene rating for Thai restaurants?

The UK average hygiene rating for Thai restaurants is 4.1 out of 5. 56.7% achieve the top rating of 5. Thai kitchens perform above average on FSA inspections compared to other Asian cuisines. Key risk areas: wok station oil build-up, rice cooling procedures, and shellfish storage.

Are there more Thai dine-in restaurants or takeaways in the UK?

Dine-in dominates: approximately 62% of Thai food businesses are full-service restaurants (965), while 38% are quick-service takeaways (592). However, the takeaway segment is growing faster at 8% YoY vs 4% for dine-in, driven by delivery platform adoption and changing consumer habits post-pandemic.

How Many Thai Restaurants Are in the UK? (2026 Data)

                Key Findings
                1 in 4 Thai restaurants in the UK is in London — 411 out of 1594
Giggling Squid is the largest named chain with 48 locations, followed by Rosa's Thai Cafe (32)
56.7% of Thai restaurants hold a 5-star hygiene rating — far above the national average across all cuisines
Leeds (34) and Manchester (28) lead outside London
London has 411 Thai businesses across 32 boroughs — more than the next 10 cities combined
Scotland's 71 Thai businesses are now fully tracked via the FHIS scheme — Edinburgh leads with 24, Glasgow has 8

            

By Region

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 South East

240

21.1% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London

221

19.4% · But 282 restaurants when grouping all boroughs

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North West

137

12.0% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 South West

101

8.9% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Yorkshire

89

7.8% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 East of England

87

7.6% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 West Midlands

61

5.4% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 East Midlands

55

4.8% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland

46*

4.0% · *Separate scheme; real total ~120

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales

44

3.9% of UK Thai restaurants

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 North East

25

2.2% of UK Thai restaurants

Northern Ireland

7

0.6% of UK Thai restaurants

Top Cities for Thai Food

#	City / Area	Restaurants
1	London	411
2	Leeds	34
3	Manchester	28
4	Edinburgh	24
5	Bristol	19
6	Birmingham	17
7	Bradford	15
7	Leicester	15
9	Bournemouth	14
9	Swansea	14

Full City Breakdown: 30 UK Cities Compared →

Thai Restaurants Are Cleaner Than You Think

Hygiene ratings from the Food Standards Agency show Thai cuisine punches well above the UK average.

★★★★★

573

5 Stars (56.7%)

★★★★

229

4 Stars (20.1%)

★★★

144

3 Stars (12.7%)

★★

37

2 Stars (3.3%)

★

25

1 Star (2.2%)

0

6

0 Stars (0.4%)

★★★★★

56.7%

5-star

★★★★

20.1%

4-star

★★★

12.7%

3-star

★★

3.3%

2-star

★

2.2%

1-star

0

0.4%

0-star

77.1% of Thai restaurants score 4 or 5 stars. For context, across all UK food businesses the 5-star rate is approximately 74% — Thai restaurants are competitive with the national standard. Only 7 restaurants (0.4%) scored 0 — likely closed or recently reopened under new management.

The Biggest Thai Chains

We matched restaurant names across multiple locations to identify chains. Here's who dominates:

#	Chain	Locations
1	Giggling Squid	48
2	Rosa's Thai Cafe	32
3	Cha Cha Chai	18
4	Thai Orchid	10
5	Thai Square	9
5	Chai Green	9
7	Thai Kitchen	8
8	Thai House	7
9	Thai Express	5

Note: Counts are FSA-registered locations as of June 2026. Giggling Squid's own website lists 48+ UK locations. Rosa's Thai Cafe states 37+ on their website — the 32 FSA figure may exclude newer locations awaiting inspection or delivery-only kitchens not registered as restaurants. Chain detection is name-based.

How We Counted Them

📋 Where does the data come from? ▼

All data is sourced from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) API, which maintains the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS). Every UK food establishment must register with their local authority and undergo hygiene inspections. We queried the database for all establishments with "Thai" in their business name, filtered to business type "Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen" (BusinessTypeID=1). The data was extracted on 3 June 2026.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 What about Scotland? ▼

Scotland operates a separate Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS). As of June 2026, we now have full Scottish data — 71 Thai businesses across 22 council areas. Edinburgh leads with 24, Glasgow has 8. This data is included in all our city breakdowns.

🔍 Won't this miss Thai restaurants that don't have 'Thai' in their name? ▼

Yes — a small number. Restaurants like "Banana Tree", "Patara", or "Busaba" serve Thai food but don't have "Thai" in their registered business name. We estimate this affects fewer than 30-40 restaurants UK-wide. Conversely, a handful of non-Thai businesses with "Thai" in their name (e.g., "Thairapy" massage) may be included. We're refining the dataset with manual review.

📊 How does this compare to other cuisines? ▼

For context: the UK has approximately 12,000 Indian restaurants, 8,000 Italian restaurants, and 7,500 Chinese restaurants. Thai cuisine at ~1594 makes it a significant but not dominant player — roughly comparable to Turkish or Japanese restaurants in the UK.

How Many Thai RestaurantsAre in the UK?

Key Findings

By Region

Top Cities for Thai Food

Thai Restaurants Are Cleaner Than You Think

The Biggest Thai Chains

How We Counted Them

Running a Thai restaurant?

How Many Thai Restaurants
Are in the UK?